Desarrollo energético en América Latina y la economía mundial

Jay Dunkerley ! THE ENERGY SECTOR IN DEVELOPING AND INDUSTRIALlZED COUNTRIES based on exchange rates reflecting a more realistic purchasing power parity between countries the energy GDP rados of the three developing regions faH sharply well below the levels of industrialized countries (see table 1, lines 10 and 11). This is so because the same leve1 of energy consumption is being related to a much higher level of output, yielding much improved overall intensities 01 energy use. This exercise is a sobering lesson in the effect of using different estimates of GDP in calculating energy intensities, but it does in any event point to the fact that whichever GDP series is used, the great disparity between energy consumption levels in developed and deve– loping countries on a per capita basis diminishes significantly when differences in income and output are taken into account. COMPoSInoN OF FUEL SUPPLIES A second reason for differences in energy consumption levels between developing and industrialized countries Hes in the composition of their fuel supplies. In industrialized countries, virtually all energy consumed consists of commercial energy-solids, oil, gas, and electridty. Although the composition of fuel supplies differs considerably within the industrialized countries, oil is the major single fuel supplying one-half of total OECD consumption. In contrast to this heavy reliance on commercial energy in indus– trialized countries, the developing countries consume at least one– third of total energy in the form of non-commerdal .(or traditional) energy fuels such as fuelwood, animal, and erop wastes. This pro– portion vades considerably between regions, reaching almost 70 per– cent in Africa, 50 percent in the Far East, and 30 percent in Latin America a. Parikh, 1978). Any analysis which faíls to take into account non.commercial fuels (which even here may be underesti· mated) misses a major pan of energy consumption in these areas. Fuelwood is the major single form of energy in boili Afdca and India. It is second to oH in Latin America accounting for 23 percent of the total. FueIwood is therefore the major fueI consumed in devel– oping regions, particularly in rural areas. As for the other forros of energy, oH is also of importance in all regions, and agriculturaJ wastes in India. Gas is Httle used except in Latín America. The contribution of electricity is also small. But it must be borne in mind that the aggregation of different fuel sources on the basis of heat content urderstates the contribution of electricity in sorne uses, 21